West Yorkshire Police: Targeting Anti-Social Behaviour

Two operations targeting anti-social behaviour in north-west Leeds during the school half term break have been hailed a success.

Operation Abbey saw police off-road bike officers join forces with

motorbike officers from Leeds City Council’s ParksWatch to patrol local

parks, while Operation Allardice saw neighbourhood policing teams in

west Leeds putting an increased focus on anti-social behaviour hotspots

and underage drinking.

Motorbike officers arrested a 19-year-old man on suspicion of

possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply and theft of a

motorcycle after they were called to a report of nuisance motorbikes in

Rodley. They recovered 23 tablets, believed to be ecstasy, and seized a

second motorbike after the rider ran off from the same incident.

A group of youths were given verbal warnings when they were found

riding off-road bikes in Black Carr Woods, Pudsey, and a motorbike was

seized by officers in Esholt Woods, Yeadon, following a number of

complaints from residents.

A Pudsey youth was given a formal warning following a report of a

nuisance motorbike being ridden near to Owlcotes Road, and a call by a

member of the public to the nuisance motorcycle hotline resulted in a

scooter being seized from youths in Otley.

A motorbike was seized from a Bramley youth in Clayton Woods quarry

after officers responded to a call to the nuisance hotline, and a man

riding a quad bike anti-socially in the Bramley area was given a formal

warning as a result of information provided by ParksWatch officers.

Chief Inspector Elizabeth Belton, who led the operation, said: “The

issue of nuisance motorbikes is something that local people continue to

raise with us and this operation demonstrates our continued commitment

to tackling the problem.

“We anticipated that the half term break would see a rise in the level

of incidents and by working with the council’s ParksWatch officers we

were able to make a real impact. The information supplied by local

people via the nuisance bikes hotline was key to the success of this

operation and I would urge people to keep using the system to report

any incidents.”

Residents can pass on information about problems being caused by the

illegal use of off-road bikes in North West Leeds Division by

contacting the dedicated hotline number 0113 239 5092.

Meanwhile, officers from the West Inner and West Outer neighbourhood

policing teams, that cover the Pudsey, Bramley and Armley areas, were

focusing extra patrols on anti-social behaviour hotspots during the

half term holiday.

The areas targeted included Owlcotes Terrace, Pudsey, Pudsey Park, the

Nutting Groves and Bawns area of Farnley, the Farfields area of Farsley

and the Edinburghs, Cedars and Aviaries in Armley.

All calls reporting anti-social behaviour were given a high priority

and officers were able to intervene before situations could escalate.

There were five separate seizures of alcohol from underage drinkers and

details of a number of local youths were passed to the council’s

Anti-Social Behaviour Unit for follow-up intervention work.

Inspector Richard Cawkwell, who heads the West Outer NPT, said: “The

feedback we received from residents was very positive with many

highlighting how much quieter it had been compared to previous school

holidays when they had seen a rise in incidents of anti-social

behaviour.”